The most expensive teenagers in Premier League history

In the Premier League it is quite common for clubs to buy players who are still in their teens. Perhaps the most famous transfer is Wayne Rooney’s move from Everton to Manchester United in 2004. Rooney was for a long time the most expensive teenager in the history of English competition, but his record has been broken.

Fábio Silva

Few would have expected the Portuguese striker to be on the list. However, Wolves sent €40 million to Porto for him in 2020. Putting things into perspective, we find that the then 18-year-old striker had minimal experience of senior football. Only 21 games for Porto and in them 3 goals with 3 assists.

In his first season in the islands, Silva was given a chance in 36 games in which he scored 4 times. Wolves management may have expected more, but for a guy with minimal experience it wasn’t entirely hopeless. However, he didn’t add another goal the next season and the club found him a new job on loan.

First a six-month loan spell at Anderlecht, then another six months at PSV in the Netherlands. Nowhere did the Portuguese convince that he should be a world class player in his position. At the moment Silva is on loan at Czech famous Rangers and managed to score 4 goals in 13 games. However, his current market value is €13 million, well below his purchase price.

Anthony Martial

The French striker burst into the Premier League like big water. Shortly after his €60 million transfer from Monaco, he shot down Liverpool in a Manchester United jersey with his debut goal. In his next game he added 2 goals in the Southampton net.

All indications were that he would be an excellent winger in the future. United also knew about the potential and would send another 50 million euros to Monaco if Martial won the Ballon d’Or. As time went on, Martial became a spike striker as he gave a lazy impression on the wing.

After all, Martial has been lazy in his last few seasons at the tip of the attack as well. The Frenchman’s best season in England came under Norwegian manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær. For the 2019/20 season, Martial notched 23 goals and 12 assists. He is out of contract at the end of the current season at United, who will let him leave for free.

Roméo Lavia

The Belgian midfielder turned 20 in the autumn. Before the turn of the century, Chelsea of London sent €62 million to Southampton for him. Lavia thus became the most expensive teenager transfer in Premier League history. He played just one single season at senior level for his previous club.

The Belgian has played just 32 minutes at Chelsea so far. His transfer is certainly promising for the future, but Chelsea have made several such transfers in the last year. Lavia has been struggling with frequent injuries. He suffered an ankle injury early in the season and injured his hamstring while getting into match practice. He has been battling with the hamstring ever since, which is why we won’t find him on Chelsea’s matchday roster anytime soon.

Source: Premier League, Transfermarkt, Sportrevue